


Alone Together

by OrionRedde, Shyrstyne



Series: Heart Hotel Stands AU [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-10-11 00:31:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20537201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionRedde/pseuds/OrionRedde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyrstyne/pseuds/Shyrstyne
Summary: Ventus comes to rest in Sora's heart. He's supposed to be asleep.He's not.





	1. Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME TO THE STAND AU*
> 
> *not to be confused with the movie The Stand. We're talking JoJo style stands here.
> 
> i'm (Shyrstyne) doing all the writing for this one, but make no mistake, orionredde is still the Ideas lady here and has been a very important part of getting this thing off the ground.
> 
> I've written this sucker out to the end of KH1, so I'll probably do weekly(?) updates until we reach that, at which point I will take a pause from updating until i finish CoM, and so on and so forth. There _is_ a point this becomes canon divergent entirely, but i'm not telling you when it is :3

Ventus doesn’t think he’s supposed to be awake, here.

Or at all really.

The platform below him glows with a soft, ethereal light, dancing across his skin and clothes with assorted greens and yellows. He doesn’t move at first, slowly coming to consciousness, but as he does, the strangeness of the situation dawns on him.

He’s been here before, after all.

It’s his heart. The station of awakening.

It’s broken.

Not as badly as before, but there are cracks webbing in from the edges, and a chunk missing from across the way. It’s there that he can see another platform, so close to his they’re nearly touching. He hadn’t seen it until he’d noticed the cracks adorning his platform. Normally he would think that was strange, but in this place anything went really.

He walks to the edge, stopping short of actually stepping onto the other platform. Trees and toy swords and star shaped fruit adorn the floor. In the center, fast asleep, lies a child.

Curiosity gets the better of him, and he steps in.

The platform flashes, and the child vanishes. Huh.

He retreats to his own station. The other one vanishes as soon as he does.

He paces his platform, restless. He summons his keyblade, just to see if he can. He studies the forms in the glass below. After some time, he thinks he hears the laughter of children, but it’s so distant he wonders if he’s hearing things.

“Am I supposed to just stay here forever?” He asks the inky blackness above and around. “Because I think I might just go mad…”

He thinks he hears someone crying, but like the laughter it’s muffled and distant and vanishes quickly. He wonders how long it takes for someone to go mad like this.

He doesn’t know how long it is, but eventually the other platform reappears. The child lies in the center once more, asleep. He nears the edge.

“Can I come in?” He asks. “Please?”

He wants to talk to someone. Anyone. He doesn’t feel alone, there’s a feeling in this place, a simple knowledge that he _can't_ be alone, but he’s still unsure and a little scared.

The platform doesn’t change, except to dim just slightly near his feet.

He doesn’t know what that means, but he takes a chance and takes a step.

The child doesn’t vanish this time.

He moves closer, getting a better look. Spiky brown hair rests over sun-tanned skin. The child can’t be more than four, and looks so very peaceful resting there. Ventus almost hates to wake him. So he doesn’t, sitting next to the small body.

“Hi, my name’s Ventus. My friends call me Ven.” He starts. “I don’t know if you can hear me, to be honest, but maybe someday you’ll call me Ven too.”

The child doesn’t stir. Ven keeps going.

“I guess.. You must be the heart that sheltered me, huh? I’m sorry I had to do it twice. But thank you. You saved my life.”

He hopes someday he’ll be able to do his thanks properly. Face to face. It’s a vain hope, but one he holds on to anyways. He looks over to the spiderwebbed cracks of his own platform. He wonders how long it will take to heal them this time.

“Aqua and Terra always told me I was the kid of the group. And maybe I am, but you… You’re so small. I’m sorry I pulled you into this mess.” He says. “Master Eraqus would probably be so disappointed.”

Something flickers in the air, and he instinctively reaches out for it.

“Sora, no! I’m so disappointed in you, young man!” The image is fuzzy and grainy, like looking through both rain and lakewater. Ventus realises it’s a memory. The platform reacted to something perhaps? But it’s not HIS memory. He looks down at the boy (Sora?).

“Huh.” He says. He tries to wave away the fuzzy memory, uncomfortable with the unbidden look into his saviours personal life, benign though it may be.

He wonders……

He starts talking. About his master, about Aqua and Terra. About the land of departure. He concentrates on the memories, on the faces of his family, on how it made him feel.

Stars, but he misses them so much.

An image floats into existence. It’s his own memory this time, he recognizes the halls of the castle, and he grins in triumph.

“You like movies, Sora?” He asks, settling in. “Because it looks like there isn’t much else to do in here…”

He passes the time like that. Eventually the boy fades away, but this time it’s slow, and he even stirs a little, unlike last time where he had suddenly vanished. Ven wonders if he’s waking up, if he only comes here to sleep, to dream.

It makes as much sense as anything else.

He passes the time like that, watching his own memories, occasionally poking at the staticky ones that were probably the parts he couldn’t remember. He doesn’t poke very hard though- he already remembers too much of his apprenticeship to Xehanort as it was. He’s content to let that beast lie.

Sora comes back every night (he assumes), and every night he sits with him and talks, shows the sleeping boy his memories. 

Every day he wanders the platforms. Sometimes he hears murmurs, children laughing and screaming in delight. He can only assume it’s the echoes of Sora’s waking hours filtering deep into his heart.

Sometimes he hears crying. Distant roars of anger and frustration. They’re so faint though, as if filtered through layers upon layers of fabric. He’s never quite sure if they’re real.

One day, he sees wisps of darkness on the edge of his platform, near one of the slowly healing cracks. They’re not rising from the cracks though, they almost act as ropes, vanishing out into the dark.

He doesn’t think they were there before. Or maybe they were and he just wasn’t looking. Sora’s station doesn’t disappear anymore, even when he’s awake, like it’s own version of an open door policy, but he remembers how it disappeared before as though it was never there at all. It was one thing he had learned here, if a heart didn’t want to be seen.. It wouldn’t be.

He tries to follow the ropes, even touch them one time, but they disintegrate under his touch. There’s a hiss, and then it’s like they were never there at all.

Weird.

That night, he tells Sora about Vanitas.

“I don’t know what his deal was.” Ventus grunts. “If he was me once.. Why is he like that? I don’t get it.”

Sora sleeps on.

“But then I guess that was.. kind of the point, wasn’t it? Of Xehanort’s plan…”

Ugh. He doesn’t want to talk about that.

He talks about Terra’s first attempts to make him food he’d like when he’d initially arrived at the castle instead. There had been so many fancy dishes, Terra loved to cook, but Ventus was a simple boy who’d ended up loving things like chicken nuggets instead. Aqua had laughed so hard.

The boys image fades again, and he returns to his own station.

The dark ropes come back. He doesn’t touch them this time.

“Hello?” He calls. It’s taken a long time to work up the courage to call out. He’s smart enough to figure who might be on the other end.

There’s no answer. But he thinks the muffled sounds are louder now, not quite as obscured.

That night, he accidentally wakes up Sora.

He’s gotten bored with storytelling and starts acting parts out, showing various moves and dodges as he remembered them. He’s trying to remember how Break Time goes when he stumbles and trips into the sleeping boy.

“Oh shoot, shoot, I’m sorry are you… okay…..” Ventus trails off as he realises he’s looking into the wide awake blue eyes of the kid.

“I’m fine. Who are you?” The kid asks, getting to his feet. He offers Ven a hand up, which is frankly adorable considering he’s less than half Ventus’ size.

“I’m Ventus, call me Ven.” He answers on autopilot. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to trip over you.”

“It’s okay.” The kid shrugs. “My name’s Sora. Where are we?”

“Uhhhh….” How does he answer that? “Well, it’s. It’s your heart. Kinda. It’s a place you come when you’re asleep.”

“Oh. I’m asleep?”

“Well. Not exactly. I think me tripping over you might have messed that up. Your body is probably still asleep though.” Stars, he hopes so, anyway.

“Oh okay.” Sora accepts casually as only a child can. “What do you do here?”

“Not much.” Ven admits. “It’s kinda boring. I’ve been watching a lot of memories to pass the time mostly.”

“Cool! How do you do that?” Sora bounces on the balls of his feet excitedly. Ven grins at just how cute it is.

“Well, I think real hard about what I want to see and..” He calls up an old favourite. Aqua and Terra and him, laughing on the terrace. He fills with longing at the sight.

“Oh oh oh! That’s the blue lady! She was real nice.” Sora chirps, pointing at Aqua. Ventus blinks.

“You know her?”

“Yeah! She came to the play island. Told me I had to.. Um. Help Riku! Which I was already gonna do, but still! If an adult says it that means it’s EXTRA important!”

Huh. Wherever Sora lived was a place Aqua at least had visited, which meant he and Terra had at least passed it by at some point. He’d have to figure it out later though.

“Who’s Riku?” He asks instead. Sora squints his eyes shut and concentrates, growling in effort. He looks up and frowns, and tries again. Still nothing.

“What are you trying to do?” Ven asks with a bemused smile. Sora huffs.

“I was tryna show you Riku with that memory thing you did!” He pouts. Ventus chuckles.

“Well, why don’t you try thinking about how he feels to you. Think about the moment you’re trying to show, and then think about how you _felt_ in that moment.”

Sora nods, and then squeezes his eyes shut again, concentrating.

This time an image flickers into existence, showing a silver haired boy brandishing a wooden sword. The memory plays on loop, the boy points the sword at the sky and then smiles down at Sora sitting in the sand, saying something softly and sincerely that doesn’t come across.

Sora opens his eyes and then claps with delight when he’s see’s it’s worked.

“That’s Riku!” He says excitedly. “He’s my Best Friend!”

“He looks very cool.” Ventus says. “What’s he saying?”

Sora becomes almost shy then, scuffing his foot.

“I got scared by the meteor shower. He promised to protect me if the shooting stars hit the islands.”

“He sounds like a good friend.” Ven smiles. He reminds him of Terra a little, the whole Protector thing. Sora nods.

“The bestest! I’m gonna marry him someday!”

Ventus chokes out a laugh.

“Are you now?”

“Of course.” The kid nods decisively. “My mom always says that the person you marry should be your best friend. So I’m gonna marry Riku.”

“Makes sense I guess.” Ventus chuckles. “I suppose she’d know better than us, I’ve never been married.”

“Whaaaat.” Sora says. “But you’re all growed up!”

“Not that much.” Ventus sobers. “Not as much as I’d like.”

“Well it can still happen, right!” Sora says with blind naivety.

“Not while I’m stuck here. It’s not really something I’m too concerned with right now, Sora. Mostly… I just want to heal first.”

“Heal?” Sora says, sufficiently distracted. “Were you hurt?”

Ventus nods.

“A few times. By a bad old man named Xehanort.” He points over to his own platform. “My heart got broken, and then it healed, but now it’s cracked again.”

Sora tilts his head.

“I can’t see anything.”

“Really?” Ventus says. The station glows just beyond Sora’s in his vision, clear as day. “It’s right there.”

“Nu uh, there’s nothin.” Sora refutes. Ventus walks over to the edge.

“Here, I’ll show you.” Ven says, and then steps onto his own platform. Sora’s eyes go wide.

“Hey! Where’d you go? Come back!” He cries out, and tears well in his big blue eyes, choking back a sob. 

_‘He can’t see me.’_ Ventus realises. _‘He has no idea any of this is here.’_

He steps back onto Sora’s station, and is greeted by Sora running into him and burying his face into his shirt.

“Where’d you go you scared me!” He muffles into the fabric. Ven pats his head as consolingly as he can manage.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you wouldn’t be able to see me. I’m okay, see?”

He picks the kid up when it doesn’t look like Sora wants to let go anytime soon. He casts his gaze over his unassuming station.

“Hey Sora, do you mind if I try something?” He asks. Sora sniffles as he pulls back, but nods.

“Okay.”

Ven turns towards his station again, hefting Sora against his hip.

“Sora is coming in now. He’s allowed.” He says with conviction, and then adds slightly more hesitantly, “Please?”

The edge dims.

He looks down at Sora and shrugs. He steps forward, and Sora’s face lights up as the platform is revealed to him.

“That’s so COOL.” He crows. “How’d you do that?”

Ven shrugs.

“It was already there, I just made it so you could see it. This is my heart, see, there’s me, my friends..” He points each out on the ground as he walks over them.

“And those are the cracks you were talkin' 'bout.” Sora says, tracing eyes over the warped glass.

“Yeah.” Ventus says sombrely. Sora looks up.

“What’s that then?” He points, but Ventus doesn’t see anything.

“What’s what?” He asks, but Sora just wiggles to be put down, which Ventus obliges. Sora runs to the edge of Ven’s station, squinting out into the dark.

“It’s all weird. Is it supposed to be all broked like that?” Sora says. Ven doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“I wanna go see what it is!” Sora says brightly, and then jumps.

“SORA!” Ven cries out, but the boy lands on something solid, turning back to wave cheerily at Ven.

“C’mon!” He calls, and then jumps again.

Ven can see the floating debris Sora lands on once he’s left them, but before that each piece is totally invisible to Ventus. He reaches out to touch the first rock, poking it cautiously. It doesn’t budge. He steps out onto it, not needing to jump like Sora had. It holds his weight. He lets out a breath.

Okay.

He follows Sora’s trail. At one point he nearly brains himself on a floating piece he can’t see, which means there are far more bits than just the ones Sora has used to cross the gap. Sora himself has come to a stop, crouching cautiously before something he still can’t see.

He realises there’s a sound, and it’s getting louder. He doesn’t know what the sound is exactly, but it elicits something full of pain and regret in his chest. It hurts.

He sets foot on the last piece, and the sound becomes a roar.

Sora looks up at him with tearful eyes.

“It hurts. I want to help but they won’t let me.”

Now that he’s on the platform, small and crumbling at the edges as it is, he can see the cocoon of darkness at its center. The roar continues. It sounds like pain.

“Please come out.” Sora entreats, walking up to press his hands against the outside of it. “I promise to try and help.”

Ventus has a dawning realisation as he watches the broken pieces of heart drift by, catches whorling designs and faces staring at him from the cracks.

He doesn’t know if trying to reach out will make it better or worse.

He’s not even sure if he wants to try, after what he’d done.

_ GET OUT _

It’s not a voice so much as a _ feeling _ that echoes through every fiber of their being, dark and desperate. Sora stumbles back, but it only seems to make him more determined. He presses against the dark again.

“No! You’re hurting I can feel it! I want to help! Being in there won’t make it better!”

Ven wonders how he knows. But then, Ven doesn’t know how he’d found him in _ his _time of need either.

_ GO AWAY _

Sora just screws his mouth up into a grim line and pushes against the dark. Ven doesn’t realise it’s working until it’s too late to grab the boy.

“No, Sora! No no no” He calls as Sora sinks into the ball. He scrabbles relentlessly against the surface, the dark a tingling burn against his fingertips.

Oh stars what has he done?

He sits with that fear for an eternal, breathless moment before suddenly the whole thing evaporates. In the center sits Vanitas on his knees, arms pinned to his side by a full Sora hug. His head is bowed and Ven can’t see his face. Sora perks up.

“See!” He chirps, pulling back to look up at Vanitas. “Not so scary, right?”

“It..” Vanitas’ voice has the croak of long disuse. He glances up at Ventus and shuts his mouth hard. His eyes are red. And not just from the tears.

“..... Go away.” He grits out lowly. Ven frowns.

“Sora-” Ven starts, stepping forward. The movement was apparently the wrong idea, because Vanitas lunges forward, keyblade summoned. Ven dodges to one side with all the speed available to him, nearly toppling over the crumbling edge that’s far too close. He darts forward, picking up a stunned Sora and then hop-dashing across the broken pieces to his own station, Vanitas hot on his heels.

He skids to a halt on the glowing light of his platform, turning back to see Vanitas crouched on the last small broken piece of his station. He has a look on his face that Ven can’t read before he turns away and the whole thing vanishes as though a black curtain had been drawn between them.

Ven lets out a tense breath. Sora wiggles in his grasp.

“Why’d you do that? Why’d he do that? He’s still hurting I gotta go back!” The boy insists. Ven leans back, resting on his rear.

“Sora, just wait a sec, okay. It’s… it’s complicated.”

Sora puffs out his chest.

“Adults always say that! It’s only compl.. Complimicated ‘cause they MAKE it like that. It’s stupid. He’s hurting, I wanna help!” He wriggles out of Ven’s grasp and jogs to the edge of the platform. The path was invisible to him too now apparently, because he wrings his hands at the edge and goes no further.

“Are you mad? I didn’t mean to make you mad. Can I try again?” Sora calls out into the dark. There’s no answer.

“Please I just want to-” What he was going to say next remains a mystery however, as the boy suddenly vanishes. Ventus hears the echo of someone calling Sora’s name.

It must be morning.

Ven doesn’t do much that day, stays where he sat, staring out into the blank space he knows now hosts Vanitas’ heart. For all he knows Vanitas is staring back.

He thinks of the shattered pieces, floating discordant and disconnected, wonders what that means for Vanitas. Ventus had nearly died losing part of his heart. Vanitas had been formed from that piece, but apparently that piece had been abused and shattered all over again. How does he keep going like that? What must that feel like?

The distant cries from before resume, but they don’t seem quite so despondent now. Now they’re filled with rage.

He doesn’t know how long it is until suddenly the veil lifts. Vanitas stares across the way, though not exactly at him. He wonders if his own station is similarly shielded from Vanitas’ view.

“I know you’re there.” He shouts. “I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to see you. But..”

He pauses, almost awkwardly. It’s surreal to see for Ventus.

“Sora can come back.”

“Why?” Ventus asks, not knowing if Vanitas will even hear him.

“I won’t hurt him, asshole.” He sneers. “You don’t get to be jealous _ now _. Sora can see me, you can’t. Get over it.” He vanishes again.

That hadn’t been what Ven had meant by his question, but for some reason he believes Vanitas when he says he won’t hurt him…. To a point. He doesn’t think he and Vanitas have the same idea on what constitutes ‘hurt’ exactly.

When Sora returns that night, sleeping once more in the middle of his dias, Ventus is hesitant to wake him. He spends some time just watching, considering.

He can’t let him sleep forever though. Well, he could, but eventually Vanitas _would_ come looking. He was too stubborn not to. Best get it over with.

He rustles Sora’s shoulder, and is rewarded by big blue eyes blinking blearily up at him. Sora takes only a moment to register who he is before jumping up in excitement.

“Ven!” He cries. “Is the other guy okay? I came back to bed as soon as I could, where is he?”

“He’s.. somewhere. I’m not totally sure. He’ll probably show if you call for him.” Ven says, feeling blind somehow. Sora opens his mouth to call out, but Ven presses a hand to his lips to hush him.

“Wait, Sora-” He pauses, frustrated with himself. “Can we talk first?”

Sora pouts but nods.

“Vanitas.. That’s his name, by the way. We.. Ugh, I don’t even know where to start. I don’t think he’ll try to hurt you.. But he might do it on accident, or without realising it. I want you to be careful, okay? Come back if you get scared.”

He doesn’t know why he’s allowing this at all. He has no evidence beyond Vanitas’ word that he won’t hurt Sora. It’s just a feeling, one that permeates the very air. Logically Vanitas should know that they’re being housed in Sora’s heart, so hurting him is an incredibly bad idea, but he understands so little of Vanitas he just can’t be sure.

Sora takes him by the hand, getting them both standing.

“I promise. He won’t though. He’s just scared, and hurt.”

Scared and hurt people often hurt even the people closest to them, Ven can’t help but think bitterly.

_ ‘You’re awful, Aqua.’ _

There are things he wishes he could take back.

But Sora leads him to the edge of the station, and calls out.

“Heyyyyyy!” He shouts with tiny lungs. “I’m back! Please come out!”

Quiet.

Sora takes a deep breath, ready to try again when the veil suddenly lifts, revealing Vanitas standing on the edge of the scattered mess that is his station. He’s got his arms crossed and turned away, waiting impatiently.

Sora peers across the gap, looking to Ven, who sees the problem. Sora’s platform nearly connects to Ventus’, which connects to Vanitas’, but Sora’s and Vanitas’ are not nearly so close. He can’t make the jump. Ven tugs on the boys hand. They’ll have to walk through his, he supposes.

“Took you long enough.” Vanitas sneers as they approach, Ventus consciously allowing him to see them. Sora lights up, running forward and jumping at Vanitas. The little rock he’s standing on won’t hold two people, so he has to grab hold of the flying body and hold it so he doesn’t drop the boy into the abyss.

“I’m glad to see you again!” Sora says, arms wrapped around Vanitas’ neck. “Are you feeling better?”

“Uh.. I..”

“‘S’ok if not!” Sora assures. “My mom says that it takes time for hurts to get better, and sometimes it even hurts WORSE first. I think that’s dumb but she’s my mom and she knows all _ kinds _ of things.”

“Might be waiting forever.” Is all Ventus hears before the veil goes up and he can’t see or hear either of them any more.

He doesn’t like this at all.

It’s difficult to measure time, here, but it’s a long time before anything changes. Ven paces the circumference of his station over and over again, waiting.

He hears a voice call out Sora’s name. Softly at first, but with growing insistence. It’s the voice he’s heard before, and slowly it grows louder, almost panicked.

“Sora? Sora please wake up you’re scaring me. Sora!”

It’s morning, Ven realises. And Sora’s still here.

He runs to the edge he knows connects to Vanitas’ broken station.

“Sora! Vanitas!” He shouts. “What are you doing? Sora needs to wake up!”

There’s no answer for a long moment, but eventually the veil slips away, revealing the stepping stone rocks. He can’t see beyond them though. He starts across them anyway, each step revealing the next part of the path.

He steps onto the small area where Vanitas rests with Sora, back turned to him. His heart stutters in his chest for a moment until he realises Sora is fine, chattering happily in Vanitas’ lap. Vanitas sits cross legged on the ground, very nearly curled around the child protectively. Sora pauses his story and smile up at Ven when he notices him.

“Sora you have to go, your mom is worried.” The cries are quieter here, but even as he says it they go up in pitch and worry once more.

“Oh!” Sora blinks. “I didn’t mean to. How do I go?”

Ven narrows his eyes.

“Vanitas.”

The boy in black tenses.

“Let him go, Vanitas.”

He can hear the teeth gritting from here.

“I don’t want to.”

“I’ll come back! I promise!!” Sora reaches up to put his tiny hands on each side of Vanitas’ face. Vanitas gains a look that Ven has seen on him only once before. One full of longing and regret. Vanitas lifts his arms from their protective circle around the boy but makes no other move. Sora hugs him tightly with a smile before standing and then vanishing.

Vanitas lets out a shaky breath. Ventus is suddenly keenly aware he’s in Vanitas’ heart space without permission.

“Thank you.” He says only and then hops back to his own station.

“Ventus.” He hears the call clearly, though when he turns back Vanitas hasn’t moved.

He says nothing.

“I still hate you. But. Make sure nothing happens to him.”

Ventus narrows his eyes, and then Vanitas’ heart place vanishes. 

_ ‘Is he asking me to stop him if he goes too far?’ _Ventus wonders. It seems like such a reach and yet..

He remembers how his other half had been hunched over the boy, cradling him gently. Vanitas wouldn’t outright admit he doesn’t know what he’s doing, or at least Ven doesn’t think he would, but demand Ventus do something seemingly unrelated? Sure. 

In any case Ven has every intent on following through on protecting Sora, from anything he could. The little light deserves no less.


	2. Two Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some time has passed, but not that much. Sora gets in a little trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mid-point chapter, things aren't okay yet, but they're working on it

Ventus lay back, listening to Sora chatter about Riku’s nameday party, mostly content to just listen and let the kid fill the silence on his own. He was more than happy to do so, full of energy and excitement, frequently getting up to run or act portions out for them. 

“And then- and then- he  _ huff _ ” Sora pants as he tries to continue the little one man play. Bodies didn’t exist here, and Ventus and Vanitas had long since figured out what was and wasn’t necessary in terms of functioning, but Sora was young yet. To him, bodies needed to breathe. 

“Sounds like it was exciting.” Ven chuckles. “Why are you down here then?”

“Well I gotta tell you guys about it!” Sora says indignantly. “It’s nap time right now, so I decided to come see you and tell you everything!l”

“Thanks Sora.” Ven says sincerely. “It does get awful boring without you sometimes.”

Two years. There was only so long you could watch replays of your own memories before even that got old. 

He wasn’t bored enough yet to touch the fuzzy spaces though. 

Well.. he had, but it had given him a nasty headache that had taken days to clear up, and he hadn’t done it since. 

Sora starts to fade, returning to the waking world. 

“Oh! I guess I gotta go! Bye Ven, bye Vani!” He waves. Ven says his goodbyes, and Vanitas gives a wave from where he’s been quietly perched on his own station. 

The pieces are getting closer together, Ven thinks. Sometimes he can almost see threads tying them, pulling them gently towards center. He wonders if they’re just healing or if it’s somehow Sora’s doing. 

They’re doing… better, he thinks. Him and Vanitas. They can tease each other a little bit now, so long as they avoid certain subjects. Vanitas is still rough and callous, but they’re both learning. 

He glances down, sees the fresh cracks in the very center of Vanitas’ dias, and frowns. 

Or at least, so he’d thought.

“ _ Wh- what are you doing stop!” _

_ Fists crash down on the glass floor, fine cracks spreading thin and ominous from where they fall. _

_ “Like you care, get out!” _

_ “No, no stopit-!“ _

...Better is a relative term, he supposes. He doesn’t know what prompted the self destructive streak from only a few days before, and he doesn’t want to think about how far he might have gone if Ven hadn’t tried to stop him. They’d ended up fistfighting the old fashioned way, tumbling across the too-small dias in a flurry of fists and kicks and biting. When they’d eventually rolled a stop, exhausted mentally if not physically, Vanitas had muttered something Ven couldn’t figure out.

Vanitas acts as though nothing happened. He’s quiet, but then, he’s always quiet when he isn’t making scathing remarks. 

Ven walks to the divide between their two areas. 

“Um..”

“What do you want?” Is the sharp response to a question unasked.

“Are you.. Okay?” He asks. Vanitas looks at him like a particularly slow baby panda.

“What do you care? I’m only stuck in some brats heart for the rest of eternity, bored out of my mind. I’m  _ peachy.” _ He scoffs. Ven frowns.

“What happened? The other day?”

“Just because we’re stuck here together doesn’t mean I have to pour my soul out to you. Sod off.” Vanitas grumps. It doesn’t have the heat he might have expected from him before, or even a year ago.

“Look, we don’t.. I know it’s messed up, what we are, what happened to us, but.. You were hurting yourself. You could have shattered yourself entirely. It worries me.”

“It shouldn’t. You were more than happy to let me fade away before.”

“I didn’t know you before. And you were trying to hurt my friends. You weren’t exactly making a great case for yourself.”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing’s changed.”

“You’re telling me if we got out of here right now you’d attack Terra and Aqua and try to merge with me again?”

Silence. Vanitas turns his head even further away.

“Yeah. I thought so.” Ven says, making Vanitas scowl.   


“Stop pretending you know anything about what’s going on in my head.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you’d tell me what was wrong.” Ven shoots back. Vanitas grits his teeth.

“Nothing’s wrong.  _ That’s the problem _ .” He snarls, and then snaps his mouth shut like he hadn’t meant to say that. Ven cocks his head, confused, and he desperately wants to ask but knows he just has to wait out Vanitas’ silence if he wants an answer.

“It feels wrong. That it doesn’t hurt.” Vanitas says eventually. “I wanted- I needed it to stop hurting, but now that it has it feels _ wrong _ .”

“It’s not wrong. Were you- were you in pain the entire time?” Something like understanding filters through his heart. Between that, what Xehanort did, where he came from.. It was frighteningly understandable how Vanitas had ended up where he did.

“Yeah, and? It hurt, so what. So did everything. It just feels weird now that it’s gone.”

“Even after all this time?”

Vanitas shrugs.

Ven opens his mouth again, but then a cry rings out from all around them, and there’s a ripple through the air. Water runs down the sides of Sora’s platform nearby. Feelings filter through the connections between them, hurt, anger, a touch of fear.

“What’s going on?” Ven rasps as he surges to his feet. He sees Vanitas do the same.

“I don’t know- I can’t see-”

“Sora!” Ven calls out, as loudly as he can. “Sora what’s happening?”

There’s an echo of sobs.

“We need to see.” Vanitas clenches his fists, and then something fizzes into existence before him. It looks like the memory windows, but this time it shows something different.

It’s showing Sora.

Ventus sees what he’s managed to do, and hops across the gaps hurriedly.

“What’s happening? Where is he?” Ventus shoves himself beside Vanitas so he can see, disregarding the other flinching away and giving him an annoyed glare.

It’s gusting and raining, and Sora is obviously crying. The tropical trees bend and sway alarmingly around him.

“Ven?” The boy calls out, voice high and tremulous. “Vani?”

“We’re here, Sora. What’s wrong?” Ven calls out, hoping he can hear. 

“Why are you out there? Go home.” Vanitas grunts. A gust of wet wind tugs at the boy’s clothing and nearly bowls him over. He sits down hard, and starts to cry in earnest.

“R-Riku said I was choosing Kairi over him cause she’s new! That I was a bad friend! A-and then! He said- he said I made you guys up! That I was being stupid and acting like a baby!”

Vanitas just snorts derisively.

“You’re not a bad friend, Sora, promise.” Ventus says, calmly. “He was being mean, and he can’t see us the way you do.”

Sora sniffles.

“I wanna go home. I want a hug.”

“I will give you as many hugs as you want later, but home first. How far is it?” Ven coaches. Sora looks up and around, and anxiety starts to settle on his features as he takes in the dark and windswept trail he’s found himself in.

“I…” His voice wobbles. “I don’t know. I thought I was on the right path but-”

“Okay, it’s okay, we’ll figure it out.” Ven soothes.

“That’s a path right? It has to go somewhere, follow it.” Vanitas supplies.

“But what if it doesn’t lead home?” Sora gets up and takes a few steps though.

“Then it’ll lead somewhere else. You need shelter.” Vanitas asserts. Ven nods in agreement.

“You gotta get out of the wind, Sora.”

“Like momma says.” Sora gets into a light jog, fighting against the blustery winds. “Any.. any dock in a storm?”

“Literally.” Ven breathes. He glances over at Vanitas. He’s staring into the image with single minded concentration.

Only moments later a creak and groan echo loudly over even the roaring whistles of wind and rain.

“SORA MOVE!” Vanitas barks, but the child is frozen in fear as the tree comes down, taking several others with it.

“Sora!” Ven cries out as the image is buried in a flurry of wood and branches and flying leaves and Sora disappears beneath them.

“NO.” Vanitas surges forward

And vanishes.

Ventus almost can’t pay it any mind, trying to find Sora amidst the splinters and trunks, it nearly takes him a moment to realise Vanitas is out there, pulling at the twisting branches, pulling them away with a single minded desperation.

He looks like he’s wearing his armour again and yet… not quite. The edges are sharper, splayed, and he doesn’t actually make contact with the ground, legs tapering to nothing long before reaching feet. Wicked claws adorn his hands, which doesn’t concern Ven until he sees tufts of Sora’s hair between the branches.

“There! He’s right there, be careful!”

Vanitas doesn’t answer, but his desperate movements slow just a hair, and he pulls the largest pieces away. He excavates Sora from the pile, and Ven notes with relief that he’s scratched and unconscious but he doesn’t seem to be badly injured otherwise. 

“Is he okay?” Ven asks anyway. Vanitas pulls the boy up, but if he tries to answer Ven doesn’t hear it as he hears another voice cry out.

“What’d you do to Sora?!” Vanitas turns, and there’s a silver haired boy on the path, looking soaked and windswept and hands balled up into fists.

He rushes up to Vanitas, throwing a surprisingly well formed punch for his small size, though it glances off Vanitas’ thigh ineffectively.

“What’d you do? Let him go!”

Vanitas says nothing, but his grip on Sora tightens.

“Don’t hurt him, he’s just worried about Sora.” Ven cautions. “Ask if he knows the way back, Sora might still need help.”

Vanitas shakes his head, but Ven can’t tell if he’s answering him or the small boy still trying to fight him and get Sora back.

Thankfully, Sora stirs, and blinks up at Vanitas with bleary eyes. Vanitas reaches up to brush a stick out of his bangs, causing Riku to pause and Sora to tear up once more.

“V-Vani!!” He sobs. “I was so scared!” He reaches around the phantom’s neck, hugging tightly.

Vanitas’ form flickers ominously. He leans down, and Riku reaches out to hold onto his friend instinctively. He’s not quite big enough to hold him up on his own, but he can let Sora lean on him as Vanitas tries to get him to let go.

In the end he doesn’t have a choice as Vanitas fades away entirely.

“Vani? Vani!” Sora calls out, worry in his voice. Riku looks stunned.

Ventus glances around, spots Vanitas forming back into being on his own heart platform, though he looks like he’s asleep, and turns back to the image showing the young boys.

“He’s okay Sora. Just tired. Does Riku know the way back? You still need to get out of this storm.” Ven says. Sora nods.

“Okay.. Riku?”

“Sora, what was that?” Riku says. “Was that a ghost?”

“No that was Vani. He’s real, like I told you!” He puffs his chest out. “Ven says we should go home though.”

Riku looks like he wants to argue, but pulls Sora to his feet.

“I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean to make you mad.” He says as they start walking.

“S’ok. I probably shouldn’a run away.” Sora rubs the back of his head.

“Are you okay?” Riku asks. “What happened?”

“The trees fell on me. Vani pulled them off.” Riku’s own eyes fill with tears as Sora tells him. Ven feels like he’s intruding, but he needs to be sure that Sora gets back safe.

“I’m sorry Sora. It’s my fault you ran away.”

“S’ok…”

“I’m gonna make it all better, okay? Once we’re back. I’ll, I’ll make you soup and put bandages on all your cuts!” He says with conviction. Sora giggles.

“Promise?”

“Promise!”

They limp through the trail and thankfully it’s not long before a house appears between the trees. Only moments later adults crowd around them, pulling them inside with worried exclamations. Ven finally dismisses the screen with a sigh. Sora was safe. Thank goodness.

He looks over to Vanitas’ station. He’s floating in the center, eyes closed and unresponsive. He reaches out, not with his hands but just to feel, and knows he’s not hurting, just drained. Hopefully that means he should be fine and just needs some time to recover.

“Sora’s safe.” He tells the unconscious form anyway. “Riku got him home safe.”

It’s a huge relief. He doesn’t know what he would have done if Sora had been seriously hurt.

“You’re going to have to tell me how you did that later.” He determines. “Even if it’s only a temporary thing.. It’d be nice to get outside once in a while.”

He grins at the thought, and then he realises who he’s grinning at. The grin falls, replaced by something more contemplative.

“You really care about him, don’t you? A year ago I might have thought it was just… I don’t know, practicality. Because we’re living here. Self preservation.”

He sits at the edge of his own station, looking across the scattered pieces of Vanitas’ heart. He reaches out, tries to push one closer to the center, but it refuses to move. He sits back.

“But it’s not is it? You hate yourself. Or you did. And you really want to protect him no matter what.”

Ventus considers that, idly kicking his feet over the edge of the precipice.

“Well.” He smiles softly, sadly. “We have that in common, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> vanitas had some self destructive.. habits? i guess, he needed to work out. fun fact, it actually really common for people to accidentally seek out and retraumatize themselves after significant trauma. our brains are both strong as steel and surprisingly brittle that way.
> 
> next chapter starts kh1! i really wish i had time to write more little moments in this era, because there's a gold-mine there waiting to be uncovered, but i just have to many projects on the go already :(


	3. The Keyblade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Keyblade chooses a new master. Ventus and Vanitas play along, but have no idea what's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a shorter one, but it's our last bit of fluff before the plot really kicks off so
> 
> also mind the very mild bit of sorikai pining on sora's part. this isn't a shipping fic per se, but the characters feel what they feel, yknow?

Sora’s on the station of awakening.

But something isn’t right. It’s not his station. It’s not Ven or Van’s either. He feels almost.. Disconnected somehow.

There’s a girl on the stylized glass of the station, with light skin and dark hair. She seems.. Familiar. He’s not sure from where.

“So much to do, so little time.” That was Vanitas’ voice! Sora tries to call out, but the words are stuck in his throat.

“Take your time.” Ven’s voice soothes. “Don’t be afraid.”

“The door is still shut.” They say in tandem.

Their voices fade away, and Sora finds himself bereft. Where had they gone?

He moves forward, and a feeling echoes within him, not his own and not either of his heart mates. A power dwells deep within, both his and not yet.

_ Choose. _

“I want to protect my friends, the people depending on me. I want to keep them safe, happy.”

_ And what will you give up? _

“Anything.”

_ Choose. _

“Power. I don’t need it. Only what I need to protect them.”

_ Very good. _

The station shatters.

The next one, a lady in a glittering white dress so familiar once more, blurs into dark shadows. 

The last one holds no familiar face.. But there is a door.

It shines brightly as it opens, near blinding him as he walks through it.

“Now hold on,” He hears Ven, and there’s almost a laugh in his voice, the emotion missing from before once again bleeding into it. “The door won’t open just yet.”

Sora looks over, and there’s Ven, sitting on the wooden banister of the play island house. It feels so strange to see him there, looking like any other kid hanging out without a care in the world. Even his armour when he’d been summoned had never looked so at home in the area.

“So here we are.” He twirls Wayward Wind in his hand idly. “You’re getting something a bit unique I think. Are you ready?”

“Yeah!” He feels confidence seep into him. “We can take on anything!”

Ven shakes his head.

“Someday there might not be a ‘We’. Will you still be ready?”

Sora’s a little less sure, but he still nods, determination lacing his expression.

“I think something’s about to happen. Maybe a lot of somethings. Anything you’re hoping for?”

“Well.. I guess I’d like to see lots of places. Do new things. Meet new people. I want to do that with Riku and Kairi.” Sora answers. Ven grins, and then gestures him away. Sora looks over, and Vanitas is there leaning against the uneven planks of the wall.

“You should be afraid.” He says without preamble. Sora tilts his head.

“No way. I’ve had you guys teaching me how to fight since I was little, I can take on anything that tries to mess with us!”

Vanitas huffs.

“Don’t be naive. We told you what happened to us. Do you think life will be any nicer to you?”

“Well. I can still take care of myself.”

“I tried.” Vanitas sighs, tilting his head back. “But these things, they don’t just come with power or abilities. They come with weight. And they take whatever they please. So tell me, Sora. What are you most afraid of? What are you afraid of losing?”

Sora thinks.

“That’s hard. There’s a lot of things I’m afraid of.”

Vanitas waits silently, his gaze boring into him with an intensity he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I guess.. myself. Changing. I want to go and see all these new things, but what if I come back and no one recognises me? What if they don’t like who that person is?” He couldn’t stand it, if someone he knew and loved looked at him like that. 

“Change isn’t always bad.” Vanitas murmurs. “It’s terrifying, and you’re never quite sure where you’re going but.. Sometimes you come out the other side a better person instead.”

He says no more, and when Sora looks away he sees two people this time, standing on the sloping path to the entrance. 

“Riku? Kairi?”

“Sora.” They greet in tandem, echoing somewhat creepily. “What is most important to you?”

Sora doesn’t know if he wants to answer now. 

“You’re not my friends.” He says slowly. They don’t answer. “But using them, for that question? You already know, don’t you?”

“It’s midday.” They say, still in tandem. “It’s nearly time to wake up.” They both smile, soft and affectionate, and it makes his heart yearn for a moment, before the world goes dark. 

Another station. A yellow dress and a girl holding a rose glint up at him.

“Be careful.” It’s Ventus’ voice again. “The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.”

It snakes across the floor, dark and ominous, and then

It  _ lifts _

_ Changes _ from his shadow to something else

The monster he faces is enormous, taller than the great tree at the center of the play island. It stares him down, ominously.

“But don’t be afraid..”

It reaches for him with black claws.

“Just remember..”

The lines in the monsters face look like tears.

He fights.

He doesn’t know if he wins.

It leans over him as he stumbles and falls, dark pooling around them both.

“-But don’t be afraid.” Ventus and Vanitas both speak.

Sora starts to sink.

“You hold the mightiest weapon of all.”

He doesn’t fight the dark. It feels like an old friend. He looks up into the yellow eyes of the monster.

“Vani?”

It smiles.

“Just remember.”

“You are the one who will open the door.”

He wakes up on the beach. 

What was _ that? _

_ ‘Ven?’ _ He calls internally,  _ ‘Vani?’ _

There’s no answer, but he can still feel their presence, beating alongside his, so he’s not worried, just… confused. 

He finally opens his eyes and comes face to face with Kairi leaning over him. 

“Taking a nap again! Are me and Riku gonna have to build this raft all by ourselves?” She teases with a grin. He gives his own grin back, if slightly embarrassed.

“Sorry, Kairi. Ven and Vanitas had to talk to me about something. ….I think.”

“Well if they’re going to be taking all your time then they should help on the raft too!” She decrees. “Isn’t that right Riku?”

“You’re just trying to give them your part of the work aren’t you? You’re just as lazy as he is.” Riku says, tossing the log to her as he walks up. She catches it with a laugh.

“So you noticed!” She looks at Sora with a wink. “But I suppose at least we don’t have to feed them.”

Sora laughs, standing from the sand and dusting off his pants.

“Alright come on, this list won’t complete itself.” Riku waves it imperiously. Kairi tries to jump for it, but he holds it out of her reach, using his year of extra growth to his advantage.

“Aw cmon! I thought I was gonna be in charge of supplies!”

“Because it means you don’t have to do any work. You left it on the raft, it’s mine now.” He pokes his tongue out at her and she takes it as a challenge, jumping at him and physically trying to climb onto his shoulders.

“H-hey! Kairi! Ow watch the hair-” He stutters as Kairi shrieks with laughter trying to climb him.

Sora laughs, heart full and warm.

He’s so excited to set sail with them.   
  
  
  
  


Ventus sits on the edge of his station, watching the world outside. Vanitas lounges nearby.

“The keyblade called to him. It was testing him.”

“Mh.” Is the answer.

“He hasn’t been bequeathed one. Do you think it’s us?”

“Did that feel like us?”

“.... No.”

“Then it’s not us.”

“But then… what was it?”

“... I don’t know.” Vanitas admits at length. “But whatever it is, it can’t be good. A keyblade doesn’t just go and seek a new master for no reason.”

“Especially not one like that.” Ventus agrees. “The door?”

Vanitas is silent.

“It could only mean Kingdom Hearts, right?”

Ventus can hear his jaw click from where he sits.

“Since when can keyblades know the future.” Vanitas scoffs. “Mine never told me shit.”

“I think… I think Sora’s special somehow. It’s different.” Ven muses. Vanitas growls.

“It shouldn’t be! He shouldn’t be! He shouldn’t have to deal with any of this fuckery!” He shouts and starts to pace. Ventus watches him with sorrow.

“I don’t think any of us have a choice..” He mutters to himself, turning back to the window out where Sora and his friends laugh and build their raft.

He hopes it doesn’t end either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like just copy-pasting game events much, so you'll notice I tend to skip over things a bunch. Assume if it's been skipped, not much has changed.
> 
> and honestly i know it's a retcon, but i truely beleive it's at the very least Ven talking to Sora at the beginning of kh1. I want to beleive it's also Vanitas, since some of those lines don't sound very much like ven, but that's closer to headcanon territory tbh lol


	4. The Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The islands are swept into the dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the most rehashy of the chapters, but hopefully there's still enough stuff with kairi and ven/vani to be interesting

Sora runs across the wooden planks, toy sword in hand. The shadows rise and fall, but there isn’t much he can do against them. 

_“Just run, Sora! Run!”_ Ventus urges. He feels the swell of agreement from Vanitas in more feeling than words. They want to help, but their summoned forms take such a toll on their consciousness, and they don’t want to risk leaving Sora alone as the islands quake around them. 

Water rises and falls in the distance. To Sora it almost looks as though it’s being filtered away, like the inverse of an incoming tsunami, but that can’t be right. 

“Riku!” Sora gasps as he spots the boy standing silently on the dirt platform. He runs towards him, jumping over and around the writhing shadows that scrape at him. 

_“What is he doing?”_ Vanitas says, something wary in his tone. The heartless aren’t on this section. 

“Where’s Kairi?!” Sora calls, fear in his tone. “She isn’t with you?”

“The door.. has opened.”

All three boys feel something heavy settle in their chests at the pronouncement. 

“The door has opened Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!”

_“Not like this!”_ Ventus says, despairing. _“Didn’t we tell you what happened to us? Not like this!”_

“Riku- I think something’s wrong, Riku.” Sora says, voice wavering. “Ventus is freaking out, we need to find Kairi.”

“Kairi’s coming with us!” He says with such certainty that for a moment Sora believes he knows somehow. “But we can go, here and now, and see everything we couldn’t before!”

“Riku-“

_“Somethings wrong.”_ Vanitas says, so very quietly. _“His dark, it’s off..”_

“There’s no turning back. We may never see our families again. But we have to take it Sora! We can’t let fear stop us!”

Sora is afraid though. He’s afraid for Riku, for Kairi, for the hearts inside him that both clench fearfully at something he doesn’t know. 

“I’m not afraid of the darkness!”

_“It’s not the Dark…”_ Vanitas says. It sounds like a warning. 

“You’d know, right Sora? Vanitas?” He says as he lifts a hand, as if to call them closer. “That the dark can be useful?”

Vanitas knew, of course he knew. 

But something has gotten twisted.

_“You don’t want to do this kid.”_ Vanitas says, but only Sora can hear. 

Sora reaches out, trying to grab for the outstretched hand. Long oily tendrils of black snake upwards. 

_“Fuck this,”_ Vanitas growls, and manifests, appearing behind Sora like a wraith, or a menacing guardian. 

“Riku!” Sora calls, desperate, unable to reach. “Van, help me!”

Vanitas’ expressionless mask meets Riku’s too-steady gaze. There’s so much anger and challenge underneath that supposedly steady countenance. Vanitas knows it, knows it too well. 

He shakes his head, just as the fingers of the two boys graze, and Riku’s calm veneer cracks…

And then vanishes along with the boy himself in a flash of light. 

Sora doesn’t really register what’s in his hand now at first, calling out for his lost friend. 

“Riku? Riku?! Where-“

Vanitas shakes his head again. Then points at the weapon that had just appeared. 

_“He’s… he’s gone, Sora. I don’t know where. But you- you have a keyblade.”_ Ventus says, still not quite believing it. 

Sora looks down at the blade in his hand, glinting in gold and silver. He didn’t want it, not really… but here it was anyway. He could feel the nervous trepidation from his heart mates at its appearance. 

He turns back toward the island; he can deal with the consequences later, right now he has to find Kairi. 

Vanitas clenches one fist, and floats ahead of sora, violently striking down the monsters that appear in his path. His strikes are sharp and frustrated, but Sora doesn't have time to ask why right now, only able to feel the complicated emotions roiling beneath.

More monsters slink up from beneath him, and Sora swings the new weapon he’s been granted clumsily.

This time, he feels like he connects, and the creature flinches away.

He strikes again, using the things he’s learned from Vanitas and Ventus over the years in ways he never thought he would.

_ Where’s Kairi? _

There’s a door at the entrance to the Secret Place, smooth lines and white paneling standing out starkly against the darkened greens of the foliage around it.

_“The heart of the world..”_ Ventus murmurs. _"That's not good.."_

.. She’s in there. Sora doesn’t know how he knows, but it’s like something calls him, pulling him forward. He pulls open the door, walking into the dirt cavern he knows so well.

Vanitas pauses.

_“That guy from before.. He knew this was coming. How?”_ Ventus asks. The shadow person who'd mysteriously appeared and just as mysteriously disappeared in the secret place only the day before. Vanitas shakes his head, unknowing, and then starts to fade. Sora looks back.

“Thanks, Vani. We’ll be okay. See you when you wake up.”

Vanitas nods, and then vanishes from view. The cool sense of rest fills the space where Vanitas now sleeps.

_“Okay Sora, just you and me now. You ready?”_ Ventus asks. Sora nods, and then sprints down the cave tunnel. He turns the corner and there-

“Kairi!” He calls, relief filling him as he spots her. She’s okay! She turns at his voice, but her movement is slow and listless.

“Sora..?” She says, quiet and without inflection. He only has time to be confused for a brief moment before the door behind her opens, blowing her towards him-

And forcibly ejecting him from the worlds heart.

_“Sora! Sora!!”_ Ven’s voice calls. _“Get up, there’s no time!”_ Sora is already on all fours, forcing himself upwards, and facing the small track of beach that’s all that remains of his home.

The ocean is gone.

The playhouse is gone.

His home is gone.

Ven is silent, and though he feels the echo of an old despair from him, Sora is too overwhelmed with his own to pay it mind. He doesn’t understand what is happening.

A menacing ball of magic and tempest hovers over him, and even as his uncomprehending mind takes it all in, a new monster rises from the shadows. This one, though, is one he’s seen before.

“You’re not Vani this time..” He breathes, terror instilled in his heart. The keyblade flashes to life in his hands, and the monster reaches out to strike, balls of blue flame flying towards him.

He darts around them, striking at the monster with all the strength panic and bravado can grant him, again and again. It’s too big, he’s too scared. Ventus appears at his side, his light trembling and afraid, but strong. The feel of his hand on Sora’s shoulder steadies him, and they both attack the beast in earnest.

He still doesn’t know if they’ve truly won, but it sinks away, and the tempest above kicks up more, tugging at him harshly. He grapples at the sunken remains of a fence, crying out.

“Ven!”

Ventus appears next to him, green armour washed dull in the purple dark surrounding them, and he tries to help him hold on but as the last bits of the island fly away there’s soon nothing left to hold on to, and they’re both tugged into the abyss.

Ven curls around him, protecting from flying debris and the sharp edges of darkness alike.

They fall.  
  
-

Sora wakes up to the smell of dog slobber and heavy paws on his chest.

“Ow! Hey-” He blinks blearily, looking around the empty alleyway he’s found himself in. He stands up.

“Ven, Vani-” Silence, both asleep. Sora tries not to let anxiety crawl through him. They’ll wake up soon, he just needs to wait. No matter how much he wishes he had someone to talk to right now.

“Riku? Kairi?” He calls out, louder this time. He rubs at his eyes. Okay. Okay. Figure out where he is first, then he can look for his friends. One thing at a time.

He wanders out of the alley, watches the dog go around a corner, vanishing from sight.

He’s in a town.

Well, he thinks. Time to figure out where he is.

-

Ventus wakes up slowly, which is normal after manifesting. Projecting like that took a lot of energy, even if he wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d been out for. His consciousness comes to him slowly, and even as his eyes open everything feels muggy and indistinct.

He looks over to Vanitas’ platform, notes that he’s still asleep, floating in the center. Ven walks to the edge, reaching out to the floating pieces. They’re nearly touching now, more like wide cracks running through the station than small islands scattered around the space. The station is very nearly a complete circle. He smiles.

Wait, Sora!

He jogs to the other edge where Sora’s station rests, stepping onto it with long familiarity.

He doesn’t get the chance to look out at the outside world when something strange catches his attention.

There’s an entirely new station attached to Sora, opposite his own.

Ventus quirks his head, slowly walking over to it. It glows brightly, lit from within with a light that reminds him of both home and hurt at the same time.

“Who.. Are you?” He asks the empty air. A figure flickers in the center, and then vanishes again.

“Can I come in?”

No response.

“I want to help. I’ve been here a while, maybe I can?” He tries again.

The blinding light doesn’t so much dim as change hue. He steps onto the platform.

Kairi sleeps in the center.

“Oh no..” Ven murmurs. “Well, at least you’re safe here. Kinda. Your heart is at least.” He steps closer, crouching next to her but hesitant to touch. Beneath her are Sora and Riku’s faces.

He feels Vanitas stir into wakefulness, and in realising Vanitas won’t be able to see him on Kairi’s platform, returns to his own.

“Where the fuck did you go?” Vanitas snaps, but long familiarity at this point has Ven picking out the worry in his tone.

“Kairi’s here.” Ven wastes no time. “Somehow she.. She’s here too.”

“Well isn’t this becoming a right holiday inn, huh.” Vanitas scoffs, stepping onto Sora’s platform and looking over the expanse.

He frowns, and then turns away, returning towards his own platform.

“Vanitas- wait! We should talk about this.” Ven calls out. Vanitas just shrugs.

“Talk about what? Kid’s here now too, and she’s too fuckn bright. I’m going back to sleep.”

Ven looks between Vanitas and Kairi, a little lost. 

In the end he kneels next to her once more, but before he can shake her awake she starts to stir on her own, murmuring under her breath.

“Kai? Hey Kairi, you awake?” Ven asks, and she scrunches her face like she doesn’t want to wake, but after a long moment she blinks them open and looks up at him.

“Ah!” She gives a startled shout and rolls away from him with impressive speed, only stopping once she hits the very edge of her platform.

“Woah woah, it’s okay Kairi. Well it’s mostly okay. Kind of okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” Ven stumbles through his words. He can practically hear Vanitas shouting ‘nice job dumbass!’ from across the way.

“How do you know my name?” She asks, and her voice is steady despite her fear. Ventus blinks in realisation. She’d only ever known him as a silent wraith that hung around Sora sometimes.

“Oh right, I guess you’ve never seen me like this, huh? I’m Ventus. Call me Ven.” Habit has his hands forming the words as he speaks them, the signs they had been using for years to communicate coming as easily as speaking.

“You’re Ventus?” She’s clearly a little stunned. “But how…”

“Welcome to Sora’s heart I guess. Population four. Sora’ll probably be by later.” Ven shrugs. Kairi has the wide eyed look of someone having trouble processing. He can’t blame her really.

“Does that mean Vani’s here too?” She asks, and of course she puts the pieces together impressively fast. Ventus nods.

“He’s probably on his own heart place checking up on Sora, but yeah he’s here too.”

Kairi nods firmly and then stands.

“How do I get there?” She asks, and he coaches her through asking permission and the different ways the platforms could respond. Even now he was still learning new things, heart places held many secrets.

He guides her over Sora’s platform and onto his own, stopping before Vanitas’. Van is sitting with his back to them, hunched over one of the windows outside and watching Sora intently. He curses as the boy apparently does something wrong and takes a hit from a taller man with brown hair. He doesn’t appear to notice them at all.

“I want to come in please!” She calls out. Apparently the platform appears before her, but gives no other sign of acceptance that Ven can see. Before Ventus can caution her, she steps onto the platform.

Vanitas hisses and whips around to face them, face ablaze with fury and a hand clutched sharply into his chest.

“Get out get out get her off-!” He shouts, and Ven wastes no time pulling her back. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Sora in the window stumble in confusion, calling out for Vanitas before the hilt of a sword comes across the back of his head and sends him tilting towards unconsciousness.

Vanitas’ platform vanishes as Ven hurriedly retreats, holding a confused and tense Kairi to his chest.

“What happened?” She asks, and this time her voice does tremble. He shakes his head.

“I don’t know.” He honestly answers, and sees Sora flicker into tenuous existence on his own heart space. He’s a little translucent, meaning he’s only partially asleep and could wake at any moment. Kairi spots him and runs over.

“Sora!” She calls, but he doesn’t react. She pouts.

“Come on you lazy bum!” She cries out in frustration. “Wake up!”

He grows more and more see through until he’s barely visible at all.

“Where’d he go? Is he okay?” She swings her head around wildly, as though she might see him elsewhere. Ven reaches out to console her.

“He’s fine, just waking back up. Speaking of…” Ven calls on the window to the outside, which makes Kairi gasp in awe, and in it sees Sora sitting up in a bed, where a girl stands next to it. She starts talking about the keyblade, and Sora blearily rubs at his eyes.

“I’m so glad that you’re okay, Kairi.” He smiles brightly.

“Kairi? Who’s Kairi?” Is spoken at the same time as Kairi herself says “Me too.”

Sora jerks back, blinking rapidly and shaking his head.

“I’m the great ninja Yuffie!” The girl outside crows, and Sora shakes his head again.

“Wait, wait, hold on- Kai?” His hand raises to his chest, and Kairi reaches out to touch the frame of the window.

“I’m here, Sora.”

“How? I-”

“I think you might’ve overdone it, Squall.” The self proclaimed ninja says to the man entering the room. It’s the same one who’d knocked Sora out earlier, and Ven tenses.

“That’s Leon.” He grumps. The key rests against the frame of the door innocuously. Yuffie follows his gaze.

“Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures.” Yuffie chirps. Ven shakes his head.

“It won’t work for long.” Ventus says. “I’m sorry, Sora. This can be a hard road to walk.”

“Why won’t it work for long?” Sora asks, startling both Leon and Yuffie. They glance at each other.

“You know about it?” Leon asks, gaze suspicious. Sora shakes his head, suddenly feeling like maybe he shouldn’t tell Leon about his guests.

“Just- just stories.” He stumbles, flushing. Ven and Kairi can’t help a giggle.

“C’mon Sora, I know you can’t lie worth anything but you could at least try.” Kairi laughs, which only makes Sora blush harder. He fiddles with his fingers in such a way that might be dismissed by Leon and Yuffie, but to Kairi clearly says 'Stop teasing!' as he pouts.

“Regardless, this is no story now. Your world is gone, fallen into darkness, and now you hold the key, it’s chosen one. The monsters, heartless, are attracted to it just as they are attracted to the darkness in every person's heart, and will hunt you down relentlessly.”

“Why is he acting like there’s only one keyblade?” Ven murmurs. “Are they.. Are we really all gone? Does no one remember any more?”

“Hey, have you heard of a guy named Ansem?” Yuffie asks. Ven quirks his head but Kairi isn’t really paying attention, gnawing on her lip and staring out the window intently.

“Why does that… sound familiar ...?” She whispers under her breath.

She doesn’t have time to contemplate it further when heartless appear in the room and derails the whole conversation. Sora follows Leon down into the back alley’s and Kairi watches on with worry.

Sora holds his composure well, running through the monsters and slicing his keyblade through them like he was born with it. He’s still obviously more used to play fighting, pulling his punches more than he should unconsciously, but he makes progress and even with Ven and Vanitas’ coaching it’s really the best they can hope for.

His heart races though, uncertainty and fear a constant undercurrent under the rush of adrenaline.

“You can do this, Sora.” Ven encourages. “These monsters have nothing on you.”

“Yeah!” Kairi nods firmly. “Kick their butts!”

Sora doesn’t answer aloud, but his heartbeat gets a little steadier, and the hint of a grin flashes across his face.

“Yeah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kairi and vanitas' dynamic is _really_ interesting tbh and i wish i'd given myself more opportunity to play with it more (we will see a little more of it, just not as much as i would have liked lol)
> 
> Update; finally drew Kairi stand + (minor spoiler) Namine and Xion stands https://mobile.twitter.com/shyrstyne/status/1209541782809149441


	5. The Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get going

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jumping over most of the disney stuff really squishes down the run time of this doesnt it. <strike>thank goodness</strike>

Vanitas does not like Donald Duck. Or Goofy for that matter. But especially Donald Duck.

“This ship runs on happy faces.” He mocks to himself, pouting angrily as he steps off his heart station. He’d tested it even, manifesting on the ship in all his distinctly unhappy glory, and caused the whole thing to stall.

Donald had been less than pleased, and Sora, who hadn’t yet told his new companions about his old ones apparently, had to then field a number of concerned questions from Goofy.

Which meant Sora was none to pleased with him either.

Vanitas was essentially in timeout. Not that anyone could enforce that in this place, but when Sora was pointedly ignoring him he decided it was just better to do it himself, floating gently downwards into the deepest recesses of Sora’s heart. Sand appears beneath his feet and trees sprout from ocean that appears out of the dark.

It was fine, it’s not like there was anything interesting going on outside anyways, the gummi ship takes hours to travel between worlds, and aside from the occasional run-in with heartless, it’s largely boring.

It’s _ fine. _

He lounges on the beach sand of Sora’s heart. It was a place he’d discovered years ago, after a particularly bad fit of self-destructiveness, he’d decided to see what was in that endless abyss below the heart stations. Instead of oblivion, he’d found a sanctuary, built in exact detail of the play island.

Vanitas has never felt real sand against bare skin, but he imagines this is what the real thing feels like. Soft and warm.

The gritty rock of the badlands hardly counted, after all.

He comes here when he needs to retreat, feel the calm reassurance that is the very core of Sora’s soul. Perhaps put that way it’s a little creepy, but when he can’t stand the eternal black of the heart stations, or Ventus’ blind optimism.. He comes here.

Now if only people would leave him alone.

“Why aren’t you making sure your precious boyfriends are all right?” He says from where he lay in the sand, not even bothering to open his eyes. He feels her presence like a bonfire, scalding as she draws near.

“Sora’s okay right now, and we’ll find Riku. I wanted to talk to you.” She sits next to him, knees drawn to her chest, almost uncertain.

“Well you did, congrats. You can leave now.” It’s not quite as bad here, he realises. Her light still burns, but here it’s more like an uncomfortable kind of sunburn (not that he knows what that is either, aside second hand from Sora). When she’d stepped onto his heart station it had been like dunking himself in boiling water.

“Why are you avoiding me? I thought we got along okay, before.” She says instead. He remembers, things like light teasing, holding things out of the shorter kids reach, conspiring with her to prank Sora and Riku.

She wasn’t wrong. He did like her. But out there was different than in here.

“You hurt.” He answers bluntly. “You shine light from every pore and.. It hurts. I’m done with hurting.”

He _ wants _ to be done with hurting.

“Light? Why does it hurt you?” She edges a little further away at least, which makes Van sigh a soft breath in relief.

“I’m made of Darkness.” He says. It’s not something he advertises much anymore. Though it is something he’d told Sora, it never really.. Sunk in exactly what that means, he supposes. “You’re nothing but light. It hurts me.”

She shifts uncomfortably.

“I guess.. That makes sense.” She admits. “I always felt a little uncomfortable around you too, but I thought it was just me, and it didn’t seem fair to treat you differently just because of a feeling.”

“You should listen to your gut more.” He snorts. “It’s usually right.”

“Not about you though.”

He laughs, and blinks his eyes open just in time to see her pout.

“I’m serious! Remember when Sora and I tried to climb to the top of the Play Island tree, and I slipped? You caught me. A bad person wouldn’t have done that.”

“For the right reasons they might.” He mutters, and then sighs. “Look, it’s not about good or bad. I’m dark, you’re light. They just don’t mix.”

“What about Ven? Isn’t he your light? Why doesn’t he hurt you, or Sora?” She asks, curious and persistent. He’d appreciate persistence if he wasn’t on the receiving end.

“Ven and I were split from the same person, his light was literally once mine, like my darkness was his. We can’t go back, but it doesn’t hurt me the way yours does.” He answers simply. “Sora… Was a kid. They’re malleable. His light changed when he took us in.”

“Oh.” She says. She hugs her knees closer, looking sad.

Oh, goddamit. Vanitas curses to himself. Curse these goddamn kids and their goddam feelings.

“Look, here isn’t so bad. It’s not comfortable, but we can talk here.” He allows. “Just…”

“Not on the heart stations.” She finishes. “I understand.”

She doesn’t look quite so miserable though, and Vanitas lets his head fall back in the sand.

“Do you think Riku’s okay?” Kairi whispers, staring out across the endless ocean.

Vanitas is silent.

“You felt it too, right? That.. that darkness…”

“Yeah.” He answers.

“I know the dark isn’t bad, you taught me that ages ago.” She continues. “But something about it….”

“Something’s wrong.” He finishes. “Yeah.”

Something had gotten twisted.

He doesn’t like how familiar it felt either.

-

“No! Give it back, I need it to-”

“To what, Riku?” Sora demands. Ventus hovers behind him, Pinochio cradled in his arms. “What could be so important you’d keep him from going home?”

Riku let’s out a wordless yell of frustration and anger, and then vanishes back into the dark.

Sora’s lip wobbles, though he tries to keep the rising tears from falling. Ven hovers close, and Pinnochio reaches out a hand cautiously, trying to comfort but not sure how.

“Why? What is he doing?” Sora says to himself.

No one answers. No one knows. 

-

Sora stares up at Kairi’s body, resting silent and still against the ship mast, in disbelief. 

“All this time- Riku this is perfect!” He cries, excited despite the tension. Kairi shouts excitedly from within, before sobering. 

“But how do I…?” She wonders, but both are stalled by Riku’s reaction. 

“Perfect, Sora? How is any of this perfect? Is that really how little you care about her? About _ us? _” He snarls. Sora is taken aback before realizing Riku doesn’t know, had disappeared or been cut off before Sora could tell him about Kairi. 

“We can help her, her heart is-“

“I don’t want to hear it.” He snaps and makes a sharp gesture, a shadow shaped like Sora rising from the deck menacingly. 

_“No!”_ Kairi gasps from within Sora's heart, pushing forward 

And appearing before the shadow shaped like her friend. 

She panics, thrown off by the sudden change in environment, a shield of flowers sprouting around her and the trio behind her. The shadow makes something almost like a hiss, drawing back, and Riku stares at her with wide eyes. 

She reaches out, tries to speak, but finds she can’t. Her hands are pink and white, but not in the way they’re supposed to be. It looks like armour, and she’s reminded of Ven and Vanitas’ armour forms when they’ve manifested. 

One of the pirates pulls a lever, making a hole appear beneath them as they all tumble into the dark. 

It’s an ungraceful landing, and no one moves for a long moment. 

“Kairi?” Goofy asks, intuitive despite his name. She nods, still somewhat stunned. 

“Kairi!” Sora sits up sharply, making Donald squawk as the weight on top of him shifts. He grabs her armoured hands and oh, she’s bigger than him like this isn’t that strange, and he grins widely. 

“We’ll get your body back soon, I promise.” He says with determination, making her heart well with emotion she can’t show. There are no eyes or tears in this form. 

She leans down and pulls him in for a rough hug, wishing more than anything she could cry. 

-

“What was that?” Riku demands, Kairi’s body held tightly in his arms. “It was like Ven and Vanitas but..”

“You aren’t the only one drawing on new powers.” Maleficent chides. “It is merely a new form, I’m sure. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m not afraid.” Riku shoots back instinctively.

“I’d be disappointed if you were.” Maleficent grins. “Now then, how _ are _ the heartless working for you?”

-

Kairi doesn’t use the form often.

It’s useful, to be sure, but she hates that it leaves her all but unconscious afterwards. She can’t stay out as long as Ven or Vanitas either, and though they assure her it gets better with time and practice, Sora assures her she won’t have enough time to need it.

He’s going to get her body back, he promises.

She holds that promise close to her heart.

But when Riku somehow steals the keyblade, and Donald and Goofy follow him, none of them have a choice.

“Can he do that? How can he do that?!” Ventus protests. Vanitas doesn’t have an answer.

Beast is infinitely helpful, but with how many heartless crawl all over this castle, the three of them end up constantly switch off on helping Sora.

Sora hates it, she can tell, hates needing protection when all their lives lie connected to his. His hand clutches the toy sword tightly, knuckles white, trying his best despite being able to do so little.

They ascend the towers, one slow step at a time. He hides it well, but she can see the anxious tremble in his hands, the stress around his eyes.

Kairi is ‘on duty’ so to speak, but fading quickly. They’ve finished the latest batch of heartless and motes of light and waves of her shields drift away as they’re no longer needed. She reaches out, and takes his free hand in hers, pulling it close to her chest.

“Kai?”

She puts her other hand on his chest, completing the circle, and resting her armoured forehead against his. She pulls back only just far enough so she can talk to him before she goes.

-I believe in you. You can do this.- She signs, and then her form dissipates and oblivion takes her.

When she wakes, Sora is in a Library, trying to sort out some obscure book puzzle.

“What happened?” She asks. An uncomfortable silence greets her. “Sora?”

“I got the keyblade back.” He mutters. She sees Donald and Goofy nearby, also shuffling books around.

“Where’s Riku?”

“We don’t know.” Ventus answers this time, hopping onto her platform. She can see Vanitas, hanging above his own platform, still asleep from an earlier manifestation likely. She must not have been out very long this time, then.

A hidden door creaks open.

“We’re gonna get him back though.” Sora says, determined. She nods, though she knows he can’t see her.

“Right.”

They keep going, until there is nowhere left to go.

There’s a wide platform, and in the center-

“Kairi!” Sora shouts, lurching into a run towards her still body, gently cradling her head in his hand.

“This is so weird.” Kairi murmurs, looking down at her own fallen form through the little window in Sora’s heart. “What now?”

“I guess go out?” Ven suggests, and she nods, pushing herself forward until she finds herself floating outside of Sora once more, above her body.

“Ah so I see the last Princess of Heart joins us.” A new voice, distorted but distinct, calls out. Kairi and Sora both look up, startled, to see Riku sitting high above.

“Riku- Wait, you’re…” Sora pauses, hesitant. Something was wrong.

“The door must be opened, and we need all the Princesses to do so. But she dwells within you still, doesn’t she? It is time to release her.”

“I- I’m trying.” Sora protests, weakly. 

“Do we really want to walk into whatever this asshole’s plan is though?” Vanitas points out. He’d only just woken up, but was as sharp and alert as ever. Ven bites his lip.

“No but.. Kairi needs her body back. We can’t keep her trapped here like us.”

“I can help with that.” Riku’s grin is wide, and malicious. It doesn’t look like him at all. He holds up a simple yet wickedly pointed black blade, and it's clear what he means as he points it directly at Sora.

“Who- Who are you?” Sora grits out. That’s not his friend, even after all the things he’s done, that is _ not _ Riku.

“I am Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. All the pieces are here now, and it is time to open the door. Lead me into the everlasting dark!”

His wild swing down with the sharp blade is blocked by Kairi and Sora both. Sora scowls as he pushes back.

“I’ll get Kairi her body back! I promised! But _ I won’t do it for you!” _

It’s by far the hardest battle they’ve fought. Despite his words, Sora can’t help but pull his blows, and Kairi isn’t much better. Whatever has happened, whatever is wrong with Riku, he’s still their friend. They don’t _ want _to hurt him.

Riku- or rather, Ansem, has no such compunctions.

But fight they do, even as Sora manages to land another solid blow across his chest and Riku staggers with a whine that sounds far too much like their old friend. Even as Kairi take him by the arm and throws his weight over her shoulder and hard into the ground and feels her heart break alongside the shatter of bone.

Finally, Riku stumbles away, and with the baring of teeth vanishes into the dark.

“Sora! Sora!” Donald and Goofy rush up, no longer blocked by the barrier that had locked them out. Kairi waves, though it’s a tired thing. They greet her, and then look up at the door.

“Gwarsh, that sure looked tough.” Goofy says. “But what do we do about this keyhole?”

“It’s not complete, so we can’t close it.” Donald squawks.

There’s a metal clink behind them, and all three of them turn towards the sound. Sora blinks up at them, holding the Keyblade Ansem had dropped.

He smiles.

“I promised.” He says, almost a whisper, just to himself. “Maybe Ven and Vani can be free this way too.”

She wants to scream, to yell, to deny, but even her improved reflexes aren’t fast enough as he brings the point of it down straight into his chest.

She thinks she can hear Ventus and Vanitas yelling too.

Her form wobbles, collapsing into whisps, and her vision doubles as for a single moment she sees from the wavering form of her heart armour and from her flesh and blood body simultaneously. She feels stiff and sore and none of that matters as she stumbles upright, lurching towards Sora’s falling body as quickly as trembling legs will let her.

He vanishes into motes of stardust, still smiling, and she screams.

“Sora! Sora no!” She cries, the tears she’d longed for pouring down her cheeks, burning her eyes. She clutches her chest and sobs.

“Well done.” A voice, deep and confident, comes. “The sacifice is made, and the door is complete.”

A strange man, tall with silver hair, steps onto the dais. Kairi wipes her tears and tries to stand. Her legs feel like jelly, and not connected to her at all. It’s her body, and yet everything feels _ wrong _.

“Don’t come any closer!” Donald threatens as he and Goofy place themselves between him and Kairi. Goofy reaches out a hand, the one not holding his shield, to steady her and help her up. She was never so weak before, but her body feels like a puppet on fraying strings. It feels like a betrayal of what Sora had just sacrificed to make it happen, but she almost wishes she were made of heart and armour again.

The strange man merely chuckles, and continues to walk towards the group, menace in each step, until he pauses strangely.

Just barely, she can see the wisps of Riku’s from before him, holding him back. He looks at them, eyes wide and fearful.

“Run! The heartless are coming!”

Her heart breaks at how scared he sounds.

She wonders if he knows what happened to Sora.

“No! Riku-” She tries to protests, but he shakes his head, desperate.

“You have to go. Please.” He begs.

Her legs wobble once more. She’s in no shape to fight.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers, and alongside Donald and Goofy, runs away.

She sees only the hint of his smile, pained as it was, as she turns.

She feels like a coward.

They make their way down the seemingly endless halls, pausing often for Kairi to catch her breath.

“Are you okay, Kairi?” Goofy asks, concerned. She shakes her head.

“No. It doesn’t matter, we’ll deal with it later.”

Goofy hums, before rearranging his shield, picking her up, and slinging her across his back.

She flushes, embarrassed at her own weakness, but accepts it.

“Thanks Goofy.” She whispers.

“No problem.” He answers, congenial as ever, and they continue down the halls, heartless ever nipping at their heels.

“I wonder what happened to Ven and Vani…” She says to herself.

They weren’t with her, that much was certain. Perhaps that’s a blessing, she doesn’t know what would have happened to Vanitas if he had tried to find shelter in her heart.

“I’m sure they’re okay.” Goofy assures, asserting his endless optimism. 

“I hope so.”

The pause in front of the fountain at the castle entrance, a short break to catch their breath, confident the heartless are far enough behind they can afford to stop.

Kairi sits against the cool stone walls of the stairwell, looking down at her hands and willing them to feel like her own again.

She curls her fingers, feeling the motion but disconnected from it. 

She wonders if she’s always going to feel like this now.

“Wak! A heartless!” Donald cries out, and she looks up to see the single shadow coming out of the hall. Donald starts charging a spell, but something tugs on her heart and she cries out.

“Wait! Donald wait!”

The spell sputters and dies, and the shadow creeps closer.

Goofy has his shield up as it passes him, but it makes no move to attack, merely looks up him, twitching, before moving on. It does the same with Donald, until it finally reaches her.

They stare at each other, and Kairi has to force the name between her lips.

“Sora…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah, kairi got to Stand but unfortunately it doesn't last very long :(


	6. Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things wrap up, but the journey continues

Vanitas is trapped in the dark.

It’s not the first time, and the cynical side of him notes it probably won’t even be the last, but as he’s plunged into the comforting embrace of the dark his mind is on anything but.

“Sora you idiot!” He yells. “You _ idiot _!”

There’s nothing. The heart stations are gone, he can’t feel the others. It’s empty.

He reaches inside himself, finds the bond that still ties him to Ventus, and pulls.

The tie almost snaps, and he lets go of it like it’s burned him, suddenly fearful.

“Ventus?” He calls, not knowing if he can even hear him. 

“Fuck.” He curses. The dark is _ his _ home. For Ventus…

He grabs the bond again, and pulls, lighter this time, as gently as his nature can manage. He feels it tremble inside him, and as he gets closer he feels the fear and pain from Ventus spilling over.

“Dumbass!” He shouts. Ven doesn't hear him, curled in on himself in a pathetic attempt to protect his quickly wavering light. 

The dark was his home, but for Ven it was his very antithesis. He wouldn’t last long like this. Fragments of him have already vanished into the dark.

Vanitas tsks and wraps himself around him, uses his own dark to block out the endless clawing abyss around them. Ven’s cries grow softer, but don’t dissipate entirely.

“It hurts. It hurts.” He sobs softly.

Vanitas remembers his first days in the light, made of a dark that was never supposed to be exposed to the world that way. How everything had burned against him. He remembers those brief moments with Kairi, where her light peeled away his very form despite neither of them wanting it to.

“I know.” He says. Ventus doesn’t say anything else.

He doesn’t know how long they stay like that, him wrapped around Ventus and Ventus trying desperately to hold himself together under the constant onslaught of dark.

The abyss is endless, and comforting to him. He blinks, willing himself to stay awake.

It’s no less dangerous to himself, Vanitas realises. It would be so _ very _ easy to fall into a sleep he would never wake from, in this place.

He can’t do that, though. He can’t let Ven fall apart without him. He needs to know what happened to Sora, Kairi and Riku. He refuses to believe any of them are beyond saving.

If _ he _ can be worth saving, as Sora so often told him, Sora himself most certainly is.

“Why?” Ven mutters, and Vanitas isn’t even sure it’s directed at him. He pants through the pain. “Why would he do that?”

Vanitas says nothing.

“We loved him, he’s done so much for us, _ why would he do this?” _ He cries.

Vanitas clenches his eyes shut.

He doesn’t know.

“Sora?”

He looks up. That wasn’t Ventus. In fact it sounded like-

“Kairi!” Ven gasps. 

Something in the dark shifts, lifting and light, affection and warmth.

“Sora!” Kairi’s voice calls again, stronger this time. 

There is a burst of light-

And suddenly they’re on the heart stations again, curled together on top of Sora’s picture. Light floods the space one more, and though Vanitas regrets the fleeing comfort, Ventus breathes a long, heady sigh of relief as they both return to a state of neutrality.

“Van…?” Ven asks groggily, blinking up at Vanitas, who is still curled over him. Vanitas huffs and leans back.

“What?”

Ven opens his mouth, thinks, and then shakes his head.

“Nothing. What happened? Is Sora okay?”

“I don’t know.” Vanitas frowns, and calls up a picture window, which shows Sora and Kairi hugging tightly, both shuddering from recent trials.

Ven smiles at the sight, but Vanitas is more concerned with movement in the background.

“Sora, heartless!” He barks, startling the poor boy.

A roar echoes, and Beast leaps into the fray, growling wildly.

“Run!” The monster of a man bellows.

“What about you?” Sora asks.

“I’m not leaving without Belle. Now go!”

Kairi flinches, but doesn’t resist when Sora tugs her along. Goofy offers her his back once more, and they flee the castle.

They reach the ship with only a few skirmishes on the way, and both Ven and Van breathe sighs of relief as they step onto it. They watch until Donald takes the helm of the ship, and Sora sits heavily next to Kairi. They don’t speak, just lean against each other for comfort.

Vanitas closes the window. Whatever conversation is coming between them, he doesn’t need to see it. He looks over at Ven, a question on his tongue but unsure how to voice it.

“I’m okay.” Ventus answers anyway.

“I didn’t ask.” Vanitas huffs, though it’s without heat.

Neither of them leave Sora’s station.

It isn’t long before Sora himself appears in the middle, sleeping soundly.

It’s been a long day, and even here he looks tired, but that doesn’t stop Vanitas from scowling, stomping up, and shaking him roughly.

“Huh…?” Sora blinks, but Vanitas is already shouting.

“What the _ fuck _ were you thinking?”

“I-” Sora jerks back, stunned.

“There had to have been other ways! What is _ wrong _ with you?!” He shouts. Sora just looks up at him, shamefaced.

“I- I thought.. It just made sense. And maybe you guys…”

“I don’t have a body, where would I have gone?!” Vanitas throws his arms up in the air. Ven puts a hand to his bicep, and though Vanitas can sense Ventus’ own slow burn anger at the situation, he just looks sad.

“And my body is too far away.” He says quietly. “Sora, you could have killed us too, but that’s not really what we’re angry about.”

“Speak for yourself.” Vanitas spits, even knowing deep inside that Ven is absolutely right.

“Sora you..” Ven pauses, fighting for words. “Even if we hadn’t been in here with you.. We’d still be angry. Because we care about you, and the thought of you sacrificing yourself like that.. It’s awful.”

“I did it for you guys. All of you.” Sora mutters, unable to meet their eyes anymore, looking at the glass beneath their feet. Vanitas scowls harder, blinking away the wetness in his eyes. He grabs Sora and pulls him in tightly, almost more a stranglehold than a hug.

“You’re worth more than we ever were.” He says quietly. He feels Sora stiffen and try to pull away.

“No, don’t say that! Of course you’re worth it!” Sora protests. “You’ve been trapped here for so long, I just wanted to give you your own lives again!”

“We know, Sora.” Ventus says. “But not like that, okay? We’ll figure out a way where we can all go home together, no sacrifice needed.”

There’s quiet, stretching endlessly across the platforms and the surrounding dark.

Sora sniffles.

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Vanitas pulls back. “Now go back to sleep, idiot. You look like Jack Skellington.” He gestures to the tired bags under Sora’s eyes, who rubs at them self consciously.

“Alright. Goodnight, guys. I’m.. I’m glad you’re okay.” He says, and closes his eyes, drifting almost instantly back into slumber.

Ven and Vanitas take up silent vigil around him. There’s nothing to defend him from in this place, but neither is willing to leave him just yet. 

“So this Ansem guy…” Ven starts, hesitant. Vanitas scowls.

“He feels familiar. Why?”

“Reminds me of _ him.” _ Vanitas almost snarls the last word, making it clear just who he was referring to.

“But Xeh-” Ven cuts himself off when he detects the barely-there tell of Vanitas’ flinch. “He was old. He didn’t look like that.”

Vanitas is silent and tense.

“Vanitas?”

Vanitas looks away, turning his head so Ventus can’t see his expression.

“Do you.. Know something?”

“No.” Vanitas answers finally. “Not.. Not for sure.”

“Will you tell me?”

“Maybe.” It’s as good as he’s going to get from Vanitas and he knows it, so he lets the subject drop.

The silence stretches.

“Think Kairi’s okay?” Ventus asks quietly. Vanitas grunts. 

“She seems...kind of unsteady, in her body now.” Ven continues. 

Vanitas grunts again, sounding slightly annoyed this time. 

“I guess I never thought about what might happen, once we get our bodies back.”

“You mean once you get _ your _body back.” Vanitas says quietly, but Ventus jerks back like he had yelled. Vanitas glances over at him just once, before returning his gaze to the abyss. “What, did you forget? I never had a body. I only had a form at all thanks to Xehanort. We can’t become one any more, and we all know who’s going back into that body when we find it.”

Ven curls up on the glass of Sora’s station, wrapping his arms around his knees miserably. 

“We’ll.. we’ll figure something out…”

Vanitas snorts. 

“Like what? Make a whole new body for me?”

“If we have to.” Ven returns, gaze becoming determined and steely. Vanitas laughs. 

“I almost believe you.”

-

“Take care of her.” The words are soft. Ventus tries to reach for him, through the quickly closing door, but Riku just shakes his head, and Vanitas’ armoured hand pulls Ven back before the gap can close on the boys armoured hand.

Riku locks his gaze with Sora, and all three of them feel the heartbreak from Sora as the door shuts with an echo that reverberates through their very bones.

“Sora!” Kairi calls, and the boy in question runs up to her, steadying her stumbling steps as the ground shudders beneath them.

“Sora please, take me with you! We need to bring him back!” She pleads, and Sora shakes his head.

“You need to get better, Kairi, you have to go home. I’ll find Riku and bring him back, I promise.”

Tears run freely down her cheeks, their hands still twined but the space between them grows larger with every passing moment.

“You promise! You’ll come home safe! You promise!!” She shouts.

“I promise!” He shouts back, and then she’s gone, returned to the islands whence they came, and despite Donald and Goofy behind him, and Ventus and Vanitas at his heels.. He feels alone.

“Sora?” Donald calls, hesitant. Sora turns, bright grin plastered on his face.

“Come on, not gonna find Riku waiting around here.”

He walks through them, and into the waiting path suspended in the dark. Towards what, he’s not sure.

Goofy looks back towards Ventus and Vanitas, who look as battle worn as the rest of them feel, armour dented and scorched. They’ve been out for a while now, and surely it won’t be long before they have to return. Ventus looks down, fists clenched, and Vanitas floats seemingly impassively.

“Gwarsh, poor kid. We’ll take care of him, promise.” Goofy says, drawing Donalds attention. Sora is far enough ahead he doesn’t appear to notice.

Ven nods, body sagging, visibly exhausted. Only moments later his form fades, and then vanishes.

Vanitas waits only another moment after that and then leans in close to Goofy, pressing a pointed, armoured finger to his chest meaningfully. He turns his gaze deliberately to Donald, and then flickers out of existence as well. Donald and Goofy knew only the bare basics of Sora's sign language, but to Goofy the meaning is clear.

“What’s that mean?” Donald squawked, having never been very good at deciphering the ghosts meanings. Goofy scratches his snout with a finger.

“Well I think it means we better do a good job.” Goofy replies. “Since they gotta trust us with him.”

“Hmph.” Donald makes an unimpressed noise. “Like we weren’t gonna do that already.”

He starts stalking after Sora, who has gotten some distance ahead already. Goofy looks down at his hands, clenching the fist that usually held his shield. The one he’d used to protect Sora from Riku after he and Donald had abandoned him.

“We kinda.. messed up once already, though.” He says. Donald pauses but doesn’t turn back. His shoulders sag.

“.... Yeah. We did.”

Goofy summons up his optimism, gathering it together like he always does when he needs it most, and marches up to Donald.

“Well I guess that means we’re just gonna have to apologize and try harder, huh?” He puts one hand on Donalds shoulder, who takes and deep breath and nods.

“Right. Let’s go find Riku.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sticking mostly to the canon plot yet, we didn't actually want to mess with kh1 much, it's such a beautifully self-contained story, but we'll be edging further into AU as we go along.
> 
> that being said, i'm partway through writing CoM but life's gotten a touch busy lately (inktober, attempting to get the next arc of my webcomic together, other writing commitments (those of you waiting oh so patiently for the next arc of Cometverse, we love you and we're working on that too, honest) etc), but it will come eventually, promise.
> 
> but thank you for reaching the end of this first part of the stand au! i hope it satisfied :D


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